summer evenings, bright hard light making the grasses shimmer in the hedgerows. Has there been a summer quite like this in recent years? And then we met the Rationalist out walking; I must say he is not nearly as scary in the flesh as he seems on the page. He told me he could see now why I got second prize ... do I do irony?
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The novel ‘Second Prize’ by Chris Manby is “a light-hearted romp”, just like you, dear Spot, and all the more excellent for that. Are First Prize winners ever capable of light-hearted romping? Probably not, Spot, they are much too serious, and much too dedicated to the process of winning. One can see them preening, rehearsing, prancing, but not romping. Go to it, Spot; let’s see you come second again. Remember, second is best. Now there’s irony for you.
P.S. Your Master may be interested to note that The Theory of the Second-Best was formalized by Richard Lipsey and Kelvin Lancaster in 1956, but it is so tedious that it is not worth following up. Better to live second best, like Spot and the best of the rest of us. Rationalist.
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